


Your Misbegotten Son

by ElenaCee



Series: Devil's Trap [27]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Guy Gets His Comeuppance, Established Relationship, F/M, Not A Spoiler Because We All Knew This Would Happen, Original Character(s), Plot, Religious Imagery & Symbolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-19 21:13:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17609090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElenaCee/pseuds/ElenaCee
Summary: A summons for the Devil to appear before a committee turns into something more sinister.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies to any members of the military. I have the greatest respect for what you do.
> 
> As always, thank you so much to all my readers for reading, liking, commenting, or bookmarking. I hope you'll like this part as well. <3

“Come on, Trix!” Chloe called, pocketing her car keys. “If you want to ride with me, you need to get a move on now!”

For a minute, the sound of muted voices from Nathaniel’s room was her only answer. Then Trixie’s voice came. “Can’t Lucifer fly me to school?”

She threw a glance at her husband, who merely shrugged expressively where he was seated at the kitchen island.

“Well, okay, Monkey, but that only buys you twenty more minutes.”

“I know, Mom!”

“Right.” She turned to Lucifer. “I gotta go. Text me immediately if anything strange happens, okay?”

He gave her a bright smile. “Don’t worry, my love. There is literally nothing they can do to me.”

If only she could share his certainty. Yes, she was aware that Lucifer was invulnerable when not in her proximity, and yes, she knew that only supernatural or other-dimensional things could harm him at all. And these were mere humans. High-ranking, rich, influential, powerful, but mere humans. But still; she couldn’t shake a feeling of impending doom. “How long is this hearing supposed to last, anyway?”

“The missive didn’t say.” He fiddled with his cufflinks. Chloe would have taken it as a sign of nervousness if she didn’t know that it was a near constant habit with him. “I’ll leave when I get bored. Can’t imagine what they want to talk to me about, anyway.”

“They want to find out how much of a threat you are,” Chloe explained once again. “If they think you’re dangerous, they’ll come up with measures to neutralize you. It’s what humans do.”

Lucifer scoffed. “The only threat I pose is to their sexuality, and even that’s only theoretical,” he said, holding up his left hand with its wedding band. “I’m a harmless Devil.”

She smiled. “You’re anything but.” He might appear domesticated, but Chloe was aware, more than anyone except his own family, that this was entirely down to his own choice. The Devil would never be tamed. “You shouldn’t underestimate them, or disrespect them. They’ll bust your ass for speeding, or for illegal drug use, or whatever.”

“The only drug I’m currently getting high on is you, my love,” he shot back, effortlessly taking her out at the knees as he so often did.

So she responded in the only way she could, which was frame his face with her hands and smile at him helplessly.

There was a soft thud from Nathaniel’s room, followed by high-pitched giggling. The fledgling must have fallen off something again.

Chloe smiled, shaking her head. “Think they’ll be okay for the day?”

“Oh, yes. I trust Maze with my life, and I’ve seen her deal with demons twice her size. She can certainly handle a young Nephilim, even if that Nephilim is the Devil’s spawn.”

As if to underline his words, there was another thumping sound.

Chloe rolled her eyes. “I really gotta go. If they burn the house down while I’m gone, I’m blaming you entirely.”

Just then, Maze strode out of the room with a giggling Nathaniel tucked underneath her arm like a rolled-up blanket. “We’re going outside,” the demon announced, trudging towards the front door. “Little devil needs to work off some excess energy, apparently.”

“Going to the playground!” Nathaniel piped up, upside down and facing Maze’s back, smiling brightly.

“Have fun!” Lucifer called after them, sounding completely unconcerned.

They vanished through the door, which closed behind them.

Chloe sighed. She’d need to take her mind off whatever might be going on at home and at the hearing with Lucifer if she wanted to be effective at her job, so she bit down on all the last-minute reminders and merely kissed her Devil good-bye. Things would turn out alright. She was certain.

 

* * *

 

When she arrived at the precinct, Chloe found her desk adorned with a dozen of ‘Welcome Back’ cards, a bottle of very nice wine with a note to ‘steady those newborn baby nerves’, and a case file.

She leafed through the case file while scanning the greeting cards until her attention was drawn by the word “supernatural”. Now fully focused, she blindly grabbed her desk chair with one hand, sunk down upon it, and read through the file again from the beginning.

 

* * *

 

With Beatrice safely delivered to her school, Lucifer took a minute to cancel his appointment with Doctor Linda for today, something he had woefully neglected to do before. Then he waited until the full hour had struck, unfurled his wings, and landed right in the middle of the conference room that had been mentioned in the missive.

There were times to use doors, and there were times to make an entrance.

He found himself in the center of a large semicircular room with no windows, right on what appeared to be some sort of stage. Two rows of seats lined the stage, and a balustrade ran along the outer wall of the room, halfway up. The impression of a Roman circus was inescapable.

His sudden appearance caused a mini panic amidst the human dignitaries seated in the first row. There were shouts and a cut-off shriek. Almost a dozen pairs of wide eyes came to rest upon him. Several more on the balustrade looked at him over the barrels of guns.

Guns! He would have laughed in their faces, but that would be rude.

But he had managed to rattle them enough for them to show their hand. Smiling, he spread his arms to his sides. “I do apologize, ladies and gentlemen. Please remain seated, and there’s certainly no need for that.” He nodded at the security guards with their weapons. “Someone might get hurt, and it wouldn’t be me.”

Another minute of minor confusion passed. Lucifer assumed that, whatever the plan for this encounter with the Devil had been on the humans’ part, his unexpected entrance had thoroughly disrupted it. Just like he’d intended.

“Mr. Morningstar?” a middle-aged woman in a business suit finally managed.

He widened his grin. “Please, call me Lucifer. We’re all friends here, right, Ms…?”

She returned his smile in that helpless way he was intimately familiar with. “Davenport. Julia Davenport.”

The man seated next to her, wearing a military uniform and sunglasses, elbowed her.

She blinked, took a breath, and struggled to compose her features. “Yes. Thank you for coming, --”

Lucifer gave her another brilliant smile.

Her expression dissolved once more. “... Lucifer.”

“Well,” he said, “if I’d known that I would encounter such charming company, I’d’ve been twenty minutes early, darling.”

“Cut the crap, Morningstar,” the military growled.

“Ooh.” Lucifer focused on him and his frustratingly be-sunglassed eyes. “And who might you be, -” he glanced at the rank insignia - “... General?”

“Does that mean you’re the Devil, and you don’t even know my name?” was the belligerent response.

This, too, was familiar. For as long as he had walked among them, before he'd met Chloe and carved out his small family, humanity had only ever shown him one of two things - carnal fascination or hostility. “I don’t, no,” he said, his smile never wavering. “I don’t keep track of every living soul. That’s my Father’s job. I can address you as General Annoyance, though, if you wish to keep your anonymity.”

The man next to General Annoyance, this one dressed in a business suit and wearing normal glasses, hissed something at the military that contained the words “antagonize” and “unwise”.

This gave Lucifer time to identify the most prevalent emotion in the room - fear. Of course. These humans were scared. Chloe had been correct, again. Maybe he should tread carefully after all; terrified humans were a force to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so armed goons in the back had finally lowered their guns. Three more humans seated in the front row introduced themselves - a catholic high-ranking priest, another military (Air Force this time), and a representative of the Church of Satan (Lucifer barely managed not to roll his eyes). Two more politicians from internal affairs rounded out the ranks.

Lucifer was disappointed. Surely he’d rate at least the presence of the Vice President.

“General Armstrong,” the General Annoyance finally disclosed when everyone else had introduced themselves, but he still didn’t take off his sunglasses.

Lucifer chose not to comment on that, or on how apt his surname was. “Lovely. Now that we all know one another, maybe it’s time for you to let me in on precisely why I’m here.” Not that he didn’t suspect, but it was always nice to get things out in the open.

Armstrong opened his mouth to reply but was overridden by Julia next to him. “Mr. Morningstar --”

_“Lucifer.”_

“... Lucifer.” She blushed and cleared her throat. “We have asked you to come, like I believe was said in the letter you received, to establish a baseline for future coexistence. You are what can be termed a visitor to our nation --”

“To this planet; nay, to this entire plane of existence, actually,” Lucifer nodded. “An immigrant from Down Below. Yes.”

Armstrong was muttering something that Lucifer could tell without understanding a word was hostile.

“Exactly,” Julia resumed. “We have… concerns. So we have formed this committee with its various stakeholders to express and address our concerns and, hopefully, dispel them.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, boring. What it boils down to is, you’re afraid of me, and you want to know if I’m really the big, bad Devil you fear, and if so, what you can do to neutralize me. So all you natural adversaries -” he nodded at the catholic priest sitting next to the Satanist - “ have joined forces against your common enemy.” He smiled his not-nice smile. “I’m flattered.”

Julia looked down at her notes. “Well, I think we have established that you are really a supernatural being, considering your appearance in this very room just then, so we can safely proceed to item two on our --”

Armstrong slapped the table top before him, making everyone jump. “Let’s cut the crap and speak plain words, shall we. We’re all here so you can give us just one reason why we shouldn’t take you down here and now.”

Julia put her hand on his arm. “That’s not at all what --”

“No,” Armstrong talked over her, shaking his arm free, “let’s skip the diplomatic crap. This guy is obviously the Devil. We know that the Antichrist was born just two months ago. His existence was confirmed by independent observers. The time to act is now, before he brings about the end of the world.”

The catholic priest - Father Menard - was nodding along.

Since Armstrong’s eyes were still frustratingly hidden by his sunglasses, Lucifer focused on the priest. “And you, Padre? Do you really want to kill a helpless baby? Tell me, what do you truly desire?”

 

* * *

 

“Olivia,” Chloe said, forcing herself to be patient, “I’m Homicide. I want to remain Homicide. And I couldn’t help but notice a glaring absence of dead bodies in this file.” She waved the case file she’d found on her desk.

“True,” the lieutenant allowed, “but I’m sure you also noticed that there’s a striking abundance of supernatural occurrences in it, and your partner’s the undisputed authority on those. That would make it your case.”

“We’re still the wrong division.”

“There is no division for Supernatural Occurrences at the LAPD, Decker.”

Chloe smiled. “Not yet, you mean.”

Olivia gave her a look.

“I mean, obviously there’s a need for one. I’m sure you can get the suits to see that, Lieutenant.”

“Maybe. But even if I could and we managed to cut all the red tape and create one today, it’d be horribly understaffed. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to lend out your partner to this hypothetical new division.”

“You bet I wouldn’t. But Lucifer’s got any amount of bored siblings. Maybe get with it and start recruiting?”

Now, Olivia returned her smile. “Got anyone in mind I can invite for an interview?”

 

* * *

 

Maze was bored.

It had been almost a whole hour now, and they were still on the playground. A few humans and their spawn had come and gone, but apart from that, nothing exciting was happening. Nathaniel was having the time of his short life climbing onto, hanging from, and falling off the bars, only to climb back on, with no signs of slowing down.

He was cute scrambling about like that, even with his little wings hidden from sight, but cute only got her so far, and she was getting antsy. There wasn’t even anything nearby to throw her knives at. Besides, the few times she’d tried that, it hadn’t ended well.

“Are you finally done, kid?” she called in a last-ditch attempt to prevent death by boredom. “Want to maybe go to the beach and splash around in the water?”

The devil spawn looked at her upside down from where he was hanging by his legs, then he twisted and plummeted, landing on hands and knees in the soft sand. “Yay! Beach! Let’s go to the beach!” He started to crawl towards her, tiny arms and legs pumping.

Maze rose, relieved, and walked to meet him and pick him up.

There was a sudden sharp burst of pain in the back of her neck.

She raised a hand to clap it onto her neck and found something stuck into it. Pulling it out, she whirled, ready to face her assailant.

A syringe in her hand. And a guy with a tranq gun in front of her, ten yards away, grinning at her.

She took two steps towards him, but then her legs gave out, and the world went dark.

 

* * *

 

“So,” Lucifer said, summarizing what he’d learned so far, “what most of you truly want out of your mortal lives has nothing to do with this hearing at all, and only very peripherally to do with me. Seeing as this whole thing isn’t a priority with you, what say we tie things up here and all go our separate ways?”

He’d said ‘most of you’, because General Annoyance, true to his Devil-given moniker, still hadn’t taken off his sunglasses, so he had yet to bear the brunt of Lucifer’s desire power. Everyone else had confessed to things like looking forward to retirement, finally getting together with his mistress, having the house to herself after her children had moved out, and inheriting his father’s fortune. Altogether an unambitious lot.

“Not quite yet, I’m afraid, Mr. Morningstar,” Julia said. “There’s still the matter of national security we haven’t resolved yet.”

He scoffed. “What ‘national security’? You think I’m a threat to your security? In case you missed it, I have a life here, a family. I’m _invested_ in your security, not a threat to it. Take that up with your human terrorists and whatnot; they’re much more of a nuisance than me. On the contrary, I’m out there solving your crimes and catching the killers among you, so I’m even _contributing_ to your national security.”

“All of which I find hard to believe,” General Annoyance growled. “Considering you’re the actual Devil and all.”

For some reason, that stung. “Oh, so just because I’m the Devil, I’m supposed to only do evil deeds all the time, is that it?”

“That reputation has to be based on _something.”_

“In case you forgot, my Father sent the Flood, demanded the lives of firstborn children, and had hundreds of thousands of people die in His name! I did nothing of the sort, ever!”

“Are you saying that you’re a good guy, and Our Lord is the evil one?”

Taking a deep breath, Lucifer looked down at the ring on his finger, its white stone assuring him that his reputation wasn’t the most important thing in his existence anymore. There was no more reason for him to get riled up over this ancient misunderstanding. “I’m saying that things change. Celestial beings change. My Father hasn’t flooded entire swathes of land in a long time. Father and I have reconciled. I haven’t had casual sex in almost a year. I’m married, and faithful to my wife.”

“And you fathered the Antichrist,” the catholic priest interjected.

Lucifer sighed gustily. “Bloody hell, he’s not the Antichrist. There is no Antichrist, at least not in the sense that you understand it. That’s a boatload of bovine excrement.” He noticed movement among the ranks of armed goons on the balustrade but paid it not mind. Their guns were of no matter to him.

“So,” he went on, “want do you want from me? My word of honor that your nation is safe from me or my son? A look at my tax returns? Bank statements? Private communications? Because you either believe me, or you don’t. In any case, I think we’re done here, and it has been a colossal waste of time for all of us, which is why I’ll be going now.”

“Just a minute,” General Armstrong said, one hand on his ear in a gesture that was familiar to Lucifer. In-ear comm. “You’re not going anywhere. We have your son, and if you make a move, we’ll kill him.”

_Nathaniel. No._

Lucifer felt a fiery blaze of rage light up his guts that almost took his breath away.

“Armstrong!” he heard Julia snarl over the sudden buzzing in his ears. “Are you mad?”

The other delegates were rising and stepping backwards, away from Lucifer, and from Armstrong.

“What are you doing, Armstrong?!” one of the politicians yelled. “You were told to stick to _our_ plan!”

“You’re bluffing,” Lucifer hissed, fighting to keep his wrath out of his voice and being only partially successful.

Armstrong kept his focus on Lucifer, ignoring the other humans. “I’m not bluffing,” he said with a nod at the goons on the balustrade. “And I’ll prove it to you.” He held up his phone, the display showing a connected call, and touched the speaker icon.

The soft whimpers of a young Celestial trying not to cry filled the room.

Lucifer allowed the heat of his fury to reach his eyes. “If you harm my son even in the slightest, I’ll tear you limb from limb,” he growled with all the promise of inevitability that eons of life in Hell had instilled in him.

There was a mechanical sound of something metal sliding on metal from the ceiling. Startled, Lucifer looked up, just in time to see four interlocked cage walls descend rapidly towards him. With a deafening noise, they impacted on the stone floor, leaving him trapped between them.

There was no door, no lock for him to affect. Just massive bars of metal. Not enough room to spread his wings.

Armstrong stood, arms folded across his chest, grinning, while the other delegates retreated further away or took cover behind their chairs.

Lucifer strode forward, intending to bend the bars or raise the cage right back up to get out from underneath it, but Armstrong held up the phone in his hand. “Don’t move. Don’t even think of deploying your wings. All it takes is one word from me, and your misbegotten son gets thrown in an incinerator. I very much doubt he’ll survive that for very long, Antichrist or no.”


	2. Chapter 2

Lucifer had reached that level of fury beyond fury when everything inside of him went still and his entire focus was on the one who needed to be punished; on this human stain who would actually dare threaten to destroy a baby. To  _ burn  _ a baby.

And humans called the Devil evil?

The other humans in the room were shouting, berating Armstrong, threatening legal consequences, doubting his sanity. Some of them were even invoking the Apocalypse. Someone was threatening to call the press.

With everyone thus distracted, Lucifer closed his eyes, reaching out with that awareness he always had for his own flesh and blood, trying to feel Nathaniel, while outside of his cage, chaos reigned.

“That’s it,” the general yelled, giving his uniformed goons a hand signal. “Escort these civilians out of here, contain them, and go to lockdown procedure. This is a military building. Let’s have some order in here.”

Lucifer didn’t pay any heed to the proceedings, still focused on his son. And that was when he felt it.

Smiling, he directed his gaze at the general, who was standing in front of the cage, still wearing his sunglasses, but that didn’t matter anymore. “You  _ are _ bluffing,” he said calmly. “There is no incinerator.”

The shades didn’t let him see Armstrong’s eyes, but the momentary stilling of breath told him enough.

“He’s moving,” Lucifer went on, not looking away, not ceasing to smile. “I assume he’s still in transit to somewhere. He’s in a car or somesuch. No incinerators in cars.”

Like all scared humans, Armstrong fell back on bluster. “You’re mistaken. I can have the creature destroyed at a moment’s notice.” He raised his hand that was still holding his phone.

“‘The creature’,” Lucifer echoed. “Yes. Because burning newborn children is such a humane action. Tell me, General, who exactly is the monster here? The crime-solving, nightclub-owner Devil, or the human threatening to kill a baby?”

“I’m not explaining myself to you, Devil,” Armstrong growled.

Lucifer widened his smile. “Maybe not, but you will to my Father, eventually. And after that, to me. Or to my lieutenant in Hell, as the case may be.” He allowed the Hellfire to reach his eyes. “In any case, I doubt very much that God will have mercy on your soul for threatening the life of his grandson like that.”

 

* * *

 

Following her meeting with the lieutenant, Chloe had just sat down at her desk again when her phone rang.

It was Maze. “Decker, I….” She broke off. Her voice had sounded weak and wheezy.

All Chloe’s vague feelings of doom coalesced into a sense of urgency. “Maze! What’s wrong? Is it Lucifer?”

She could hear the demon fight for even breaths. “No, I haven’t told him. I don’t dare. He’ll destroy me. Decker, I’m sorry.” Another pause for a breath. “I lost Nathaniel.”

Chloe thought her heart was stopping. “What?! When? How? What happened?”

“Fifteen or twenty minutes ago. I only came around again just now. Some bastard took me out with a tranq gun. I didn’t recognize them. Saw ‘em only for a second. Trail ends at the curb, a car drove off from there. I asked around. No one saw anything.”

_ Oh God. Oh God. No. _

Chloe closed her eyes and forced herself to focus. She was a cop. She needed to be a cop. Being a cop would help. Being a panicked mother would not. Facts first. “Where were you when it happened?”

“That playground near your apartment.”

“Right.” Traffic cams, maybe. Hopefully.

But what an amazing coincidence that this should happen today, when Lucifer was at that meeting. Not.

“Maze, I have to go. Lucifer needs to know.”

“Chloe, I’m really sorry.”

“I know. Not your fault. Come into the precinct. We’ll need your tracking skills.” She rang off, but when she tried to call Lucifer’s phone, the call didn’t go through.

“That’s not at all sinister,” she muttered, putting the phone down and her hands together.

_ Lucifer? Are you okay? Something’s happened. I need to talk to you. _

She waited, but there was nothing, no reply in her mind, no Devil popping into existence next to her. Maybe he couldn’t get to her for some reason? Maybe communication via prayer was one-way only? Maybe he could hear her, but not the other way around?

She tried again.  _ Lucifer. Someone has taken Nathaniel. I’m getting Maze and your siblings on it. Don’t worry, we’ll fix this. I really hope you’re okay. _

She put her hands down, reconsidered, then put them together again.

_ And, please, Lucifer, don’t kill anyone. _

 

* * *

 

_ Don’t kill anyone. _ Chloe’s beloved voice was clear in his mind. Even without being physically present, his Miracle managed to calm him.

Lucifer opened his eyes, focusing on the here-and-now. Armstrong was still standing before him, not quite as confident as before, but clearly not about to be just talked talked into seeing reason, either. Killing him still sounded tempting, even though he knew that, when push came to shove, he didn’t have it in him to kill a human.

But Chloe’s prayer had not just soothed his wrath, it had given him an idea. Time to call in some backup. He put his palms together.

Amenadiel appeared next to the general just as Armstrong drew breath to once more berate his captive. “Hello, Luci. What --” He looked around. “Oh. Got yourself in trouble again, huh? And with the military, too!”

Lucifer pointed an angry finger at Armstrong, frozen in time with his mouth open. “This human stain has had Nathaniel abducted and is threatening to have him destroyed if I make a wrong move.”

“What?!”

“Yes! And since I can’t very well kill him or allow him to do anything rash, much as I’d love to, someone else has to go and free my spawn from the humans’ clutches. So, off you go. Chop chop.”

“Right. You don’t want out of that, then?” Amenadiel nodded at the cage.

“Of course I want out of that!”

“Right.” The big lout actually approached to do whatever to the cage.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Wait! As long as we don’t know what the cockroach’s plan is or what measures he has in place, I can neither get out of this cage nor bop him one or eviscerate him, more’s the pity.”

Amenadiel made that face he made when he understood something. “Because someone might do something to your child if you try to escape, of if the guy doesn’t report in every ten minutes, or something.”

“Exactly! No go forth and join the Detective in finding Nathaniel.”

“Right. Don’t worry, Luci, we’ll find him.” With that, Amenadiel turned to go.

“And don’t --” Lucifer called after him. “Don’t forget to let me know when it’s all resolved, so I can get out of here.”

“Oh, so you  _ can _ get out.”

“Of  _ course _ I can get out.”

“How? There’s no doors and no locks for you to affect.”

Lucifer gave him a grin. “This thing is locked into the floor, and those locks aren’t Devil-proof. I’ll simply unlock them, lift the whole thing off the floor, and get out from under it.”

Amenadiel waved by way of acknowledgement and summoned his wings.

 

* * *

 

Chloe had requisitioned the precinct conference room. When questioned why she, a homicide detective, should need to solve a case of abduction, she’d just smiled and said, “Well, Lieutenant, you wanted me to take a case with no murder but with supernatural activity just now. This also is a supernatural case.” But, hopefully, one without a homicide. That didn’t bear thinking about.

Maze, still looking a little the worse for wear, had been the last to join the task force consisting of Chloe, Maze, Amenadiel, Sachiel, and Raphael, whose main reason for being here was the health of the abducted fledgling. Chloe was trying not to think about this too much. Her little baby was invulnerable, right?

Anyway, here they were. Human intelligence had contributed traffic cam footage, while the Celestials were contributing the specialized knowledge.

“Lucifer is fine,” Amenadiel was saying. “He’s in a cage, but he’s not in any danger, and he says he can get out easily. He’ll play possum and keep the military occupied while we find and free Nathaniel.”

“That’s good.” Chloe could only hope that ‘keeping the military occupied’ wouldn’t involve any Luciferness that did more harm than good. If he was angry - and she knew that she was, so he most definitely would be - then his self-control would be precarious to begin with.

“So,” she said, “this is what we have. This car was seen in the area around the time Nathaniel was taken. Of course, so were hundreds of others, but this one was seen again at another traffic light further north east, behaving erratically.” She pulled up footage from a traffic cam.

A small, bullet gray car was shown swerving wildly out of its lane, and only the fact that the driver of the approaching car managed to avoid it prevented it from getting totaled there and then.

Chloe pulled up another bit of footage. “Similar thing happened again two miles from that place.” Again, the gray car barely managed to stay in its lane.

Maze took over. “That looks like there’s a struggle taking place in there.”

Sachiel, frowning, stepped closer to the screen. “Can you zoom in?”

Chloe did, and Sachiel pointed.

“There, see?”

They all squinted at what looked like a very fast movement in one of the windows.

“You’re right, Brother,” Amenadiel said. “Wings.”

Raphael smiled. “Nathaniel is resisting his abductors. He’s clearly inherited his parents’ fighting spirit.”

“Brave little bird boy,” Maze agreed.

Chloe felt herself light up with hope. Her baby was strong; certainly stronger than a human child five times his age would be. She turned to the angels. “Do you think he could manage to escape? We must assume there’s at least two people in there; one at the wheel, and one in the back with Nathaniel. Could he take on two adult humans? I sent out a BOLO for that car; but maybe Nathaniel is already free.”

“Depends,” Sachiel said. “He’s still very young. Too young, maybe, though he might have the element of surprise. But if the humans know what they’re doing, they can easily overpower him. All they’d need is a blanket.” He looked at Amenadiel. “What do you think, Brother?”

There was no reply.

They looked at Amenadiel staring into space. Then the burly angel shook himself. “That was Luci. He’s got a bearing on his son.” Closing his eyes, he turned slowly, stopped, turned back, and raised his arm in front of himself. “He’s somewhere in this direction.”

 

* * *

 

“What are you doing, Devil?” Armstrong growled.

Lucifer lowered his hands and opened his eyes. “Praying.”

“The Devil doesn’t pray.” The human’s voice was rife with suspicion.

Lucifer gave him a sarcastic grin. “You’re obviously mistaken.”

“Well, stop it. No one will listen to you, anyway. Least of all God.”

“You clearly missed the part where I told you that Dad and I had reconciled.”

The human paled behind his sunglasses. “That’s impossible.”

“Highly improbable, at most. Nothing’s impossible for my Father. And few things are, for me.”

That clearly rattled Armstrong. He raised his phone to his ear. “Status,” he barked.

A tinny voice replied. Lucifer heard the words ‘secure’ and ‘clear’, which seemed to reassure the cockroach.

“Bring the priests here asap,” he told whoever was on the other end of the line. “We need to put the Devil on ice.” He raised his eyes to lock gazes with Lucifer. “Get him a one-way ticket back to Hell.”

Lucifer feigned a yawn and possibly derived a little too much enjoyment from the resulting scowl.

 

* * *

 

The bearing Amenadiel had given her had enabled Chloe to locate a small military base further inland, corroborated by one sighting of the bullet gray car on a highway in the vicinity.

“That’s probably where there have taken Nathaniel.”

Maze nodded. “I know that base. High security, cameras everywhere, electrified fences, spring guns, and lots of other nasty surprises.”

“None of which will do them any good,” Amenadiel said coolly.

“We can’t just fly in there,” Sachiel cautioned. “That looks like a pretty big complex. We can’t go bumbling about all over it while we don’t know where or in what situation Nathaniel is. Every second we spend in there looking for him is a second more he’ll be in danger.”

Amenadiel smiled. “Oh, we’ll have all the time in the world.”

 

* * *

 

“And now,” Armstrong said, “you’ll go back down to Hell, Devil.”

“What?” Lucifer couldn’t help it - he giggled.

A vein popped out in Armstrong’s temple. “I’ll tell my men to kill your son if you don’t.” He raised his hand holding his phone.

Lucifer forced himself to be serious. “Here’s my counter proposition,” he said, feeling he deserved a casket of whisky and at least an hour of cuddling for effort alone. “You harm a hair on my spawn’s head, and my head demon will give you a taste of what awaits you in Hell.”

Armstrong waved his phone. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Lucifer kept smiling. “You know, come to think of it, I don’t actually have to ‘dare’ anything. My demon likes my spawn, so she’ll eviscerate you no matter what I do or do not tell her to do.” He widened his smile. “I hope your affairs are in order.”

Armstrong was silent for a moment. “Fine,” he finally said, “I tried the diplomatic way. If you won’t leave peacefully, you leave me no alternative but to use force.” He raised his free hand and gave a signal.

Bored, Lucifer watched three more uniformed humans and two priests approach. One of them was holding an open book, and his tense expression betrayed the fact that he knew very well with whom he was dealing.

Lucifer preened. “Hello, Padres. Come to exorcise the Devil, have you?”

The priests didn’t acknowledge him. One raised his cross in Lucifer’s direction while the one holding the open book started to chant a Latin exorcism.

Lucifer put his head to one side, caught in a sudden memory. “You know,” he said, “it’s been ages since I heard that one! Ooh, it’s one of my favorites. The best part is where is goes on and on about ‘sullying the earth’ and ‘defiling the air’, and, what was it, oh yes, ‘desanctifying God’s creation’, which of course totally ignores the fact that my Father has --”

With more speed that Lucifer would have given him credit for, Armstrong whipped out a sidearm and fired it straight at Lucifer. “Shut up, Hell Spawn!”

Amidst a deafening report, the point-blank bullet impacted his chest with a painful twinge. “Ow! Bloody hell, that’s another shirt ruined. Was that really necessary?” He closed his eyes reflexively when a splatter of water hit him in the face; holy water if he had to guess. “And so much for my  _ coiffure.” _

The priest had fallen silent while the humans exchanged nervous glances.

Never one to ignore such a beautiful cue, Lucifer shifted to his true form. “ **Oh no. Now you’ll have to start over.”**

He didn’t get to see the humans’ reaction to that one, though, because that was when time once more slowed to a crawl.

 

* * *

 

Chloe decided she didn’t like Amenadiel’s time slow thing very much.

It had been confusing when she had only been affected by it indirectly and simply seeing people and things suddenly be somewhere else; now, having been carried first through the air and then through a military base while time hardly passed for her, it made her sick to her stomach. One moment, she was in in the precinct watching the angels and Maze get ready for an infiltration, the next, she was standing in an unfamiliar room with a buzzing in her ears and her stomach somewhere at throat level.

When her eyes and ears were working properly again, she noticed Raphael standing before her, holding Nathaniel.

The fledgling was reaching his arms out to her. “Mommy,” he said, not quite crying but with his little voice none too steady.

“Yes, Baby, Mommy’s got you.” She took him and hugged him to her, feeling him snuggle close. “It’s alright, it’s over.” Stroking his back between his wings, she rocked him, just glad to have him back in her arms. “Are you okay, Baby? What did they do to you?”

“Took me away from Aunt Maze,” Nathaniel whispered. “She fell. Is she okay?”

“Yes, Birdie, she’s fine. She’s over there, see?” Chloe nodded at where Maze came stomping into the room, followed by Amenadiel. “She’s fine.”

“Hold him still, Chloe,” Raphael said. “I need to set his wings.”

She met the angel’s eyes over the back of her son. “What’s wrong with them?”

Raphael put her hands gently on Nathaniel’s back. “Dislocated.”

Chloe took a deep breath. “If anyone did this to him I swear I --”

“No, no. That happened during the car ride. He simply did more with his wings than they could yet take.” She put one hand onto Nathaniel’s head and did something with her other hand. “They’re not strong enough to fight with yet.”

Nathaniel made a small sound, but the pain caused by whatever Raphael was doing seemed to be minimal.

“You fought these bad people, my brave little Birdie,” Chloe said, trying to distract him. “You’re such a brave boy, just like your daddy.” She looked at Raphael. “Where are we, anyway? What’s our status?”

“We’re in the center of the complex. There were fifteen humans inside, all now rendered harmless. This is some sort of detention room. There’s one guard. We took him out.” While she talked, Raphael kept working on Nathaniel’s other wing.

“Took him out?” Chloe echoed. “How? I hope you didn’t kill him.”

“I didn’t pay attention,” Raphael said. “Maze took care of him. But I don’t think he’s dead. Azrael wasn’t here.”

“He’s not dead,” Maze put in. “I know better than that.”

Raphael brushed her hand over Nathaniel’s head. “How does that feel, little one?”

Nathaniel moved his wings and winced. “Hurts.”

“It should heal shortly. But at least, you can move your wings again.”

Nathaniel nodded, putting his head back into the crook of Chloe’s neck.

“This is where you say thank you to your aunt for helping you,” Chloe prompted.

“Thank you, Aunt Raphael,” Nathaniel obediently said against her neck. “Can we go home now, Mommy?”

“Yes, Baby, we will, in a minute. First, Mommy has to arrest all the humans in this building for hurting you, or for being complicit.”

For the first time since they had found him, Nathaniel smiled. “Awesome!”

 

* * *

 

Chloe had just called for backup when, which a slow flapping of wings, Lucifer appeared. He was holding someone wearing a general’s uniform by the collar, pushing him down onto his knees as soon as he’d shrugged his wings away.

“This is the mastermind behind this entire sordid affair,” he announced. “He wanted to hold Nathaniel hostage indefinitely to force me back down to Hell.” His eyes flashed, and he breathed heavily. “I have always supported Dad’s decree that angels aren’t allowed to kill humans, but in this case….”

Chloe stared. “Is he really a general?”

Lucifer nodded. “That’s what he says.”

“Great. The suits will love this.”

The general raised his head from where he was still kneeling. “Let me go. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Lucifer growled. Amenadiel took a step forward. Sachiel lowered his arms and assumed a loose fighting stance.

“I mean, he’s not even human!” The general turned to Chloe. “The Devil doesn’t belong here on Earth; everyone knows that!”

Chloe, who could see the flickering of hellfire flames on Lucifer’s face where he was standing behind the general, whipped out her sidearm and aimed it at him. “You’re under arrest. Anything you say will be held in evidence against you. And if I were you, I’d  _ shut up _ now.”

“You can’t arrest me.”

“Oh, I think you’ll find that I can.”

“I think in this case,” a new voice said, “waiting for human justice to take effect will strain all our patience unnecessarily.”

Chloe lowered her gun and turned, knowing already whom she’d see.

God detached himself from the wall He’d been leaning against. “I’ll take it from here. He’s no longer your concern, My children.”

“Hi, Dad,” Lucifer said, letting go of the general.

The human in question was frowning in confusion. “What? What’s going on?”

God came to stand in front of him where he was still kneeling. “Ewan Patrick Armstrong. I’m disappointed in you.”

“How do you --”

“You know, I haven’t smitten anything in a long, long time, but I hear from My fellow deities who never quite got out of the habit that it’s like riding a bike.”

Armstrong gulped audibly.

“Your crime is clear. Your defense has been heard. Your repentance is non-existent. Your sentence will be pronounced and carried out in front of witnesses.” He snapped His fingers.

 

* * *

 

From one second to the next, the small group of insurgents, plus one general and one God, found themselves in front of the compound. A crowd of civilians had gathered on the small square in front of it, together with the Heavenly Host standing silently, forming a semi-circle around the humans, looking formidable and otherworldly in their robes.

“Michael.” Nathaniel said softly from where he was nestled in Chloe’s arms. “Remiel. Azrael.” He went on naming his aunts and uncles.

“Yes, Baby, they’ve all come to help you. They all love you very much.”

Nathaniel looked at Chloe, smiling tremulously. And that was when the dam finally broke as the fledgling put his head back down against her neck, sobbing softly.

Chloe crunched up her face in an effort not to join him as she hugged him closer to her.

“This,” God called, only slightly raising His voice, “in the arms of My daughter-in-law, is My grandson. And this,” He pointed at Armstrong, currently held in a firm grip around his neck by Lucifer, “is the man who abducted him, threatening his young life so My son Lucifer would be forced to return to Hell to save him.”

He paused, giving the humans time to digest this.

“Let Me use this precedent to make one thing perfectly clear: Humans do not have, nor will they ever have, any business telling My children where to go or where not to go. While Lucifer, or any of his siblings, wishes to live here on Earth, anyone who prevents them from doing so will feel My wrath. And so will anyone who decides to become a nuisance to My grandson Nathaniel, or to My grandson Ephraim.”

The fledgling, hearing his name, raised his head to smile wetly at God. Chloe used the opportunity to wipe the tears off his little face.

“This man,” God went on, “Ewan Patrick Armstrong, son of Andrew Patrick Armstrong, Major General with the army of this nation, has admitted to his crime, has advanced nothing in his own defense, and, most crucially, has shown no remorse. As the supreme authority on, well, everything, I have decided that his sentence shall be a smiting followed by eternal damnation.”

Armstrong bristled. “You can’t do this!”

God smiled. “Oh, can’t I? No, I’ll tell you what you can’t do, and by that I mean all My human children; you can’t continue to harass My family. So, hark, humans, and remember.”

He stood back and raised one arm.

“Good riddance, General Asshole,” Lucifer muttered.

Instinctively, Chloe covered Nathaniel’s eyes.

There was a blinding column of light.

When everyone’s sight returned, General Armstrong was gone. In his place, a small heap of black ash remained.

“Well,” God said into the ensuing silence, “that went rather well, didn’t it. Now I’m a little peckish. Lucifer, could I prevail upon you for some earthly libations? I find I have a sudden hankering for pizza.”

 

* * *

 

Curing God’s peckishness had turned into a ‘Thank Dad Nathaniel’s All Right’ party in Lucifer’s penthouse, over Chloe’s objections that maybe her fledgling should have some peace and quiet after all this excitement. All Nathaniel had needed to do to override her was look at her soulfully and timidly and say, “Can’t they stay a little longer, Mommy?”

If Nathaniel wanted his Celestial family, then who was she to keep him from them?

After a while, she noticed that Maze, who had kept in the background ever since Lucifer appeared on the scene, was off to the library side of the room, talking to her former lord. Chloe couldn’t hear what they were saying over the babble of voices and the music, but Maze’s posture screamed tension and something Chloe had never seen from her before - submissiveness.

Curious, she walked over to them, just in time to hear Maze say, “What are you waiting for, Lucifer? Do your worst and get it over with.”

Lucifer smiled confusedly. “Maze, I’m not gonna destroy you over this. And even if I did, I certainly wouldn’t do it now, or here.”

“But I lost your son! I was tasked with keeping him safe, and I failed!” She took a step closer to him and raised her chin. “I’m ready to accept my punishment.”

Lucifer put his head to one side, thinking. “All right. So, here’s what will happen --”

“Lucifer, what are you doing?” Chloe interrupted him. “You can’t punish Maze. It wasn’t her fault.”

The Devil raised one hand, not quite shushing her but still cutting her off.

“I need this, Chloe,” Maze said, to Chloe’s complete consternation.

“Matter of honor,” Lucifer explained. “Any crime, real or perceived, needs punishment to wipe the slate clean. If I just let her off, she’ll always feel like there’s red left on her ledger.” He shrugged. “I hope to Dad it’ll never happen, my love, but if you ever spent a few hundred years in Hell, you’d understand where we’re coming from.”

Chloe considered this. “So this is a Hellion thing that I shouldn’t interfere with?” There was no immediate reply, but then again, it had been a rhetorical question. “Right. I’ll leave you to it, then.”

She ambled off, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder and see what kind of punishment Lucifer was doling out (and hoping it’d only involve something like making Maze serve drinks), to find the angels in a feathery huddle on the floor in the middle of the room.

Nathaniel, at first glance nowhere to be seen, was in fact snuggled into the crook of Michael’s arm, fast asleep, oblivious to the ongoing celestial party. As Chloe watched, Sachiel gently lifted him out of his brother’s arms to settle him against himself, and the fledgling didn’t even stir.

“How are you doing, Chloe?” Raphael’s alto voice asked from next to her.

She turned to face the healer. “I’m fine. Relieved. Still a bit stunned. But fine. And a little worried how all this’ll affect Nathaniel. I mean, he’s a really trusting, happy baby. I’m afraid that this will change him.”

“Well, of course it will.” Raphael smiled sadly. “That’s life. He’s had his first lesson a little early, but he’s healing already. See? He was ripped out of his nest and held captive, and now he’s entirely unafraid amongst angels he’s only seen a few times in his life. His trust may have been shaken, but it’s undamaged.”

Chloe looked on, watching Sachiel gently stroke Nathaniel’s back as he talked with Michael, the young Nephilim still asleep, his wings twitching slightly as he dreamed.

“He’s learned that some people can’t be trusted,” Raphael went on, “but he’s also learned that his family will protect him. Where he was naive before, he’s now wiser. And still trusting.”

“What are you two conspiring about, then?” Lucifer insinuated himself.

“Nothing,” Chloe said just as Raphael replied, “Raiding your ice cream supply.”

Lucifer grinned. “Ooh, developed a sweet tooth, have you, Sister? Well, go ahead, then, raid away.”

Raphael smiled radiantly and made a beeline for Lucifer’s kitchen.

“You know,” Lucifer called after her, “you might as well do like the rest of us and settle down here on Earth. You’d have your own fridge with your own ice cream and all.”

Raphael waved without turning around.

“And bring something to share with the class!” Amenadiel shouted, in response to Lucifer’s mention of ‘ice cream’.

That had also roused Nathaniel, who rubbed his eyes, and yelled “ice cream!” before he was even fully awake, to amused chuckles from the Celestials.

Lucifer put his arm around her, and Chloe felt the rest of her worry melt away as his warmth began to suffuse her. Maybe she really could relax now. Maybe humanity had gotten the message.

Then Dan entered, having collected Trixie from school, looked at the party, and regaled Chloe with question marks in his eyes. “Have I missed anything?”

Lucifer grinned. “Oh, just an abduction and a Divine Smiting. Nothing overly exciting.”

Dan squinted at him. “I never know if you’re joking, man.”

“Schroedinger’s facts.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t ask, and you’ll never know.”

“Right.”


End file.
